Screw-driver.



No. 644,907. Patented Mar. 6, I900. G. E. GAY.

SCREW DRIVER.

' (Application flied Oct. 26, 1899.),

(No Model.)

r;- A YTORNEYS Arne ' "rrn GEORGE E. GAY, OF AUGUSTA, MAINE.

SCREW-DRIVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettersiatent No. 644,907, dated March 6,1900.

Application filed October 26, 1899.

Serial No- 734,795. (No model.)

' gusta, in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, have invented anew and Improved Screw-Driver, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in ratchet screw-drivers,andcomprises the novel features which are hereinafter described, andpointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through my device. Fig. 2 is asection upon the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section upon the line 33 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4. is a similar section of a modification.

My device consists of a screwdriver which is provided with means bywhich it may be made reversible-that is, so that it may be used forturning the shank or blade in either direction.

Upon the handle B is mounted a tubular shell or ferrule D, forming acasing for the ratchet mechanism, and at its outer end preferablysomewhat reduced in diameter and provided with an opening of such sizeas to accommodate the shank or blade A.

In the body of the casing or ferrule D is constructed alongitudinally-extending slot d, and within the ferrule and mounted toturn with the shank or blade A is an apertured ratchet or clutch disk E,which is provided with teeth upon its opposite end faces. The aperturein this disk, as shown in Fig. 3, is made square, and a short section Aof the shank A is also made square to fit the aperture in said disk. Theshank should preferably fit in the disk with sufficient tightness sothat the disk will not be readily movable upon the shank, but so that itmay be removed if it is desired to take the screw-driver apart. Ifdesired, the aperture in the ratchetdisk may be circular, as indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in full lines in Fig. 4, and means-such,for instance, as a pin e, passing through the ratchet-disk and throughthe part A of the blade, which is circular in cross-section-may beemployed to hold the blade in the ratchet-disk.

Upon each side of the disk E and loosely mounted, one upon the shank Aand the other upon a sleeve H, are the two pawl members vF and F", whichconsist of disks each pref,-

erably provided with a sleeve, so as to give it a longer bearing. Thesedisks are provided with teeth upon their faces adapted to engage withthe teeth upon the disk E. The pawl members are free to turn and slide,respectively, upon the shank and sleeve and are normally held toward thedisk E by means of springs G and G, which have hearing at opposite endsof the ferrule. Each of the pawl members F and F has an arm f, which isconstructed integral therewith and projects through the slot 01 in theferrule. Between these two arms and surrounding the ferrule is a ring 0,which may be moved so as to disengage either one of the pawl members For F from the disk E or to leave them both engaged therewith. The shankor blade may thus be left free to turn in the handle in one direction,but engaged by the remaining pawl member, so as to turn with the handlein the other direction or be locked against turning in either direction.The pawlmembersFand F are turned with the handle by reason of theengagement of the arms or projections f with the ferrule.

The shank between the outer end of the ferrule and the first pawl memberis encircled by the sleeve H, which passes through the pawl member F andengages the face of the ratchet-disk E, thereby preventing the bladefrom dropping out of the ferrule. The inner end of the blade A bearsupon a disk I, which is slightly recessed to receive it and which actsas a thrust-bearing for the blade.

The edges of the disks F and F, which form the pawl members, arerelieved or made of smaller diameter upon the side opposite the arms f,by reason of which it is possible to insert the parts within theferrule. Without such a provision the disks F and F would have to bemade considerably smaller or the arms f be made separate from said disksand inserted therein. This last construction would be objectionable, asit would involve more labor and would produce a weaker job than theconstruction illustrated.

In the operation of "the device in order to turn a screw into place thesleeve 0 is raised IOO by one hand and the sleeve engaging the arm f onthe pawl F releases the engagement between said pawl and theratchet-disk, and the pawl being kept in such position then by turningthe handle B in the usual manner the screw is driven home, after whichthe pawl is allowed to reengage the ratchet-disk. To remove the screw,the sleeve 0 is depressed, thus depressing the pawl F, and said pawlbeing kept depressed and being in engagement with the ratchet-disk thenby turning the handle B in the reverse direction the screw is loosened.

It is to be understood that the ring 0 is mounted to move withsuflicient friction on the ferrule D so that the ring will remain in anyposition it is placed. and will not be returned to its middle positionby the force of the pawl-actuating springs.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. A ratchet screw-driver, comprising a han- Idle, a blade, a ratchet-disk secured to turn with the blade, two pawlmembers loosely mounted on the blade and spring-pressed toward theratchet-disk, a ferrule forming part of the handle and surrounding thedisk and pawl members, said ferrule having a longitudinal slot and eachpawl member having an arm extending through said slot, and a ringfrictionally held on said ferrule and adapted to engage with either arm,said ring being of a width less than the distance between the two armsin their locked position, whereby the device may be used as an ordinaryscrewdriver, as set forth.

2. A ratchet screw-driver,having a ratchetdisk secured to turn with theshank or blade, two pawl members consisting of disks loosely mountedupon the shank or blade to engage opposite sides of the ratchet-disk, aferrule or tube forming a part of the handle and closely surrounding thedisk and pawl men'1 bers, said ferrule having a longitudinally extendingslot and the pawl members having integral arms extending through saidslot and having the sides opposite the arms relieved or cut away topermit introduction within. the ferrule, substantially as described.

3. A ratchet screw-driver, having a ratchetdisk secured to turn with theshank or blade, two pawl members consisting of disks loosely mountedupon the shank or blade to engage opposite sides of the ratchet-disk, aferrule or tube forming a part of the handle and closely surrounding thedisk and pawl members, said ferrule having a longitudinallyextendingslot, and the pawl members having integral arms extending through saidslot and having the sides opposite the arms relieved or cut away topermit introduction within the ferrule, springs holdipg the pawl memberstoward the disk, and a rihg mounted to slide outside the ferrule andbetween said arms, substantially as described.

4:. A ratchet screw-driver,having a ratchetdisk secured to turn with theshank or blade, two pawl members loosely mounted upon the shank or bladeto engage opposite sides of the ratchet-disk, a ferrule or tube forminga part of the handle and surrounding the disk and pawl members, saidferrule having a longitudinally-extending slot and the pawl membershaving arms extending into said slot, springs holding the pawl membersto ward the disk, a ring mounted to slide outside the furrule andbetween said arms, and a sleeve encircling the shank and engaging thedisk with one end and the end of the ferrule with its other end,substantially as described.

GEORGE E. GAY.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. GARDNER, DANIEL D. BUsH.

